TEXTURE: This picture is of an afghan my wife knitted and crocheted using various pieces of leftover yarn. The textures to me are amazing; some are smooth, others soft, others satiny, some coarse, some fine.
LINE: This image is of a guitar I built for my physical science class. The spacing of the frets and the perspective of the strings produces a strong sense of linearity and movement in a sensually curved object.
SHAPE: The shapes here are mostly organic, if you ignore the angel. It is a shot of a tiny fern in a terrarium you will see in other photos in this series. The shape of the fern leaf is called fractal.
VALUE: The subtle values in this photo are due to the wood's homogeneity. The varied texture is the only way detail can be seen. It is the top of my cats' scratching post.
Four Principles: Contrast, Movement, Focal point and Rhythm
CONTRAST: The two paintings were done by one of my former students, and show strong contrast, the left being a sunlit Greek cove, the other a road at night. The left painting is light with dark detail, the right one is dark with light detail. Additional contrast is provided by the neutral wall.
MOVEMENT: This photo is from my office, and is of a ceiling fan. The sharp contrast between the lights and the blurred blades suggests motion/rotation, particularly with the decreased detail and loss of focus as you move farther out the fan blades. Considering the fan was on, this is not a huge surprise. I had to clean the fan blades for this shot...
FOCAL POINT: The focal point of this shot will probably be different for each of us, but the intent was to use contrasting shapes to generate interest. For me, the overwhelming rectangularity in this shot forces the eye to go to the only different shape: the round clock above the television.
RHYTHM: Rhythm is about repetition of shape, color, etc. While the pencils are different colors, lengths and orientations, the parallel grouping establishes a rhythm from one side to the other.
Four combinations of Elements and Principles
TEXTURE AND RHYTHM: This wide shot of the afghan shows the pattern of the piece - the form is called log cabin and spirals outward from the center. The texture, due to the alternation of knitting and crocheting, can at times be extreme. Also, the washing of the piece caused some of the wool parts to tighten up (felt) whereas the acrylic stayed loose.
LINE AND CONTRAST: The bright, twisted rope against the dark, dull wood gives strong contrast, while the wrapping of the rope around the post produces a definite linearity. Texture comes along for the ride.
MOVEMENT AND SHAPE: I used the round ribbed shapes of the white gourds to suggest ascension, in stark contrast to the strongly rectangular books and speaker which imply stasis.
SHAPE AND RHYTHM: The rounded, egg-like stones in the round bowl offer some repetition of form without duplication. The coppery ball is, in fact a copper nodule from Arizona.
The Four Laws of Gestalt Theory: Proximity, Similarity, Continuity and Closure
PROXIMITY: The placing of these oranges is not staged; that was just how they were put on the counter. Their proximity puts them in a definite group, even though their textures, colors and even shapes are slightly different one from the other. If another orange were put on the counter a little distance away, it would be in its own group.
SIMILARITY: The round crown shapes of the bottle caps (destined for an unspecified project) produces a similar effect to proximity, but their shapes are identical, unlike the oranges, creating a strong sense of unity.
CONTINUITY: The slats of the terrarium have been brazed together, distinct strips of metal, but when we look at them, we see a tiny greenhouse, complete and whole. The pattern of the form brings the disparate pieces together, into a continuous, unified object.
CLOSURE: We look at the hand-turned zebrawood bowl, stripes interrupted by the lip, but our minds continue them around, making ellipses out of broken shapes. I can almost see them arching across the mints...
Reflection:
This assignment was quite enjoyable, as I had not had the opportunity to pick up my camera in several weeks. The dismal weather of the past few days forced me to take most of my shots inside, but they turned out fairly well, despite the poor natural lighting. I am uncertain how I can use this type of exercise in my classroom - I teach Astronomy and Environmental Science. I am thinking that I might have the EnvSci students put together a collage of different images detailing the locations and forms of pollution they can locate in their neighborhoods. Any suggestions on how to apply this to Astronomy would be welcome. I asked the other Astronomy teacher, and got a 'deer-in-the-headlights' look. The Video Production teacher and the Art teacher would probably be able to help.